Brackish Times
by Goddess Of Heather
Summary: Fourth in Rivers of Life-The gang finds out about Gil and Nick *slash*
1. Default Chapter

Title: Brackish Times  
  
Summary: Umm it's a surprise, sorry ya'll but my favorite couple is still key!  
  
Series/sequel: Fourth in the Rivers of Life series, series can be found at www.angelfire.com/weird2/butterflywings   
  
Archive: Fingerprints, Butterflywings, Fanfiction.net, all others just let me know!  
  
Warnings: mentions rape, slash therein and a semi-descriptive sex scene.  
  
AN: I'm doing something special for this first part. Gil and Nick are Christmas shopping and run into some of my favorite characters from 'around'. I.E. crossovers! Now if you've never seen any of the shows it won't matter, it's not important to the plot. Here's what I will do, anyone that can name all the people and where they come from will get a special prize. There will also be a person in here that's me! Yes, yes it is author insertion, but don't worry, I'll try and be tasteful. So now this prize, I'm thinking an advance preview of the next part or ummm if you're into NC-17 an actual descriptive scene of Nick and Gil and well you know…..Which hey I've written a couple of those, but mostly I avoid them. It limits who can read them and my parents have access to my webpage. So if you have suggestions for prizes let me know and I'll think about it and good luck finding all the crossovers!  
  
'Why are we shopping at the mall?' With all the background noise, Gil would be surprised if Nick could hear, let alone himself.  
  
'Christmas shopping. I refuse to get everyone certificates again this year.'  
  
Gil looked puzzled, 'you got me a bug book.'  
  
'No you got the bug book with a certificate for Amazon.com'  
  
The puzzled look cleared, 'oh yeah. So what's the plan of attack?' Nick had been so serious about this that Gil wouldn't be surprised if Nick had a map of the mall with a rote planned and everything.  
  
'First we're going to hit Neiman Marcus and Lord and Taylor, followed by Sears hardwear section then we'll have just enough time for Spencer's before we head to the food court for lunch.'  
  
'Are you sure that is the most efficient route?' Gil was snickering on the inside, God Nick was so serious.  
  
'Yes. I did recon last week.' Gil blinked in surprise, ~oh my God he is serious.~  
  
'Nick isn't that a little extreme?'  
  
'No. Now we're wasting time.' An hour later found the two checking out in Neiman Marcus.  
  
~I had no idea how long Nick could take to pick out a sweater. Although I have to admit the sweater is perfect for Catherine, he had good taste. Geeze what is with these two?~  
  
"No I don't want the bloody card! Just ring up my purchases and we'll be on our way!"  
  
The two men in front of Nick and Gil were trying to check out. They were blatantly gay and the check out clerk was harassing them for this reason. Not that they acted like a stereotypical gay couple, it was just that the bleached blonde punk seemed to delight in pissing people off. "Why did you insist we come here for our honeymoon? We could've been in L.A. bothering Deadboy and staying in his hotel for free," the brunette whined.  
  
The blonde turned and smiled wickedly, "don't worry pet, we'll stop in on Peaches going back. Do something to the Poof's hair gel. Be fun Luv." The clerk tired of baiting the couple and seeing them kiss hurriedly finished ringing up the purchases. This however didn't stop them from kissing, the blonde just reached into a pocket and one handed flipped his wallet open and drew out a credit card and handed it to the clerk. Nick was quite impressed. When the two broke apart Gil could see the dilation in the brunette's eyes and the lust in the blonde's. Whatever their plans had been then most decidedly weren't hanging around shopping anymore…unless they couldn't make it and ended up in a changing room or bathroom. The blonde did seem to be quite an exhibitionist. Gil snapped out of his reverie to realize that Nick was standing next to him rather stiffly and glaring at the check out clerk.  
  
'What happened?' Nick shook his head violently, his body language shouted back off, so Gil did. Once they were away from the clerk Gil demanded an answer.  
  
'He was bad mouthing that couple in front of us. I said that the brunette was cute. He got really insulted and started dissing you for being with me. I'm just glad you didn't hear him.' Gil could tell that more was going then the store clerk.  
  
'What else is going on?' Nick wouldn't meet Gil's eyes staring over Gil's shoulder or at his chest. 'Why are you glad that I didn't see it? Are you afraid I would leave you just because of what some homophobic kid thought?'  
  
'I just…thought you might realize how hard it would be to have a relationship with another guy. We've been pretty isolated, but if we were to ever come out…I-just I know how cruel the world can be.' Gil made his decision, he pulled Nick to him and kissed him. Some of the people about sneered in disgust, a few gaped, but most ignored. A small percentage wolf whistled. This small faction appeared to be led by the couple that had been in front of them in line, apparently they had already found a bathroom and returned. Heck maybe they used Lord and Talyor's changing rooms and if that was the case Gil hoped that the check out punk had to clean it. 'I don't care what other think of me Nick, I care about you. Now C'mon we have to stay on your schedule.'  
  
Nick gave Gil a shaky smile. 'Yeah, let's go.'  
  
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At Lord and Taylor Nick and Gil bought Sara perfume. The plan was to tell everyone that they were together and then give them presents together. It was meant as a show of solidarity. At Sears they got Warrick a hand sander. Gil was surprised, he had no idea that Warrick refurbished furniture or that his sander had broken. Nick knew a lot more about the rest of the CSI's then Gil would have thought. More than he really knew himself anyway. They had paused outside the store for Nick to review his 'battle plan' and Gil couldn't help but notice the two guys on the bench in front of Victoria's Secret. They seemed to be talking about military policy, he wouldn't normally lip read someone else's conversation but it had piqued his interest. "Look, I don't give a good God damn what you do in your off time, but could you not tell me about it?"  
  
" I only told you because you asked. We've been together for months and you didn't even know. So don't give me any crap about this. Neither of us is in the military and we haven't compromised team integrity. The only one interesting in talking about this is you. Can we just wait for Sam in peace please?" Gil didn't get a chance to see the older gray-haired man's answer because Nick was ready to move on to the food court.  
  
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They were standing in line at the food court talking about work when the woman next to them in line signed 'Happy Christmas.' They had both seen her and turned to face her better.  
  
'You know sign language?' Nick asked.  
  
'Yes,' said the girl, 'my name is,' she made and h (the first and second fingers closed and extended together) and touched it to either side of her nose. 'Yours?' Gil and Nick introduced themselves.  
  
'Why is your hair purple and pink?' Gil asked.  
  
'It's just an outward reflection of my inner personality.' At their questioning look, she elaborated, 'colorful.' They continued to make small talk through the line and until they had parted ways. Nick and Gil were sitting at a fountain as there were no tables available when a gray haired man in a gray suit stood up choking on a hotdog. A young blonde woman was with him and yelled, "Does anyone know CPR? Is anyone here a doctor?" Gil was fixing to offer his services when a tall, thin brunette stood up and calmly ran toward the two saying his was a doctor. Gil hung around to make sure that the older man was okay.  
  
"Dad, the doctor told you that you need to stop eating hotdogs!" The blonde woman turned to the young doctor, "Thank you so much Dr.-?"  
  
"Carter, John Carter. And you're welcome Ma'm and Sir."  
  
"Well if you ever need a lawyer just call," the blonde woman handed John a business card and led her father away.  
  
They hurried through the rest of their lunch figuring that with their luck someone would drop dead and they would be called in. The plan was to hit Electronics Boutique and the Candy Shop on their way out. They were standing in at the electronics store to buy Metroid Prime for Greg, it had just come out today and Nick had a rebate, when the blonde teenager pursuing the games commented, "that's an awesome game. Really great programming, and the end guy? Fantastic."  
  
Gil couldn't understand what the boy was saying and he kept turning his head so he couldn't read his lips so Nick signed what the boy had said. The boy blinked a bit startled and then signed, 'sorry I didn't realize you were deaf.'  
  
'Where did you learn to sign?'  
  
'I work with dolphin communication and we've been doing some sign signaling.'  
  
'You seem a little young for that kind of work.' Nick was even more skeptical then Gil it seemed.  
  
'Yeah they all say that, but I'm getting my degree and I've gotten further then anyone else in the field. I've actually been working on a program that with pick up a dolphin's clicks and whistles and translate them. The programming can be tricky, especially the verbs, but the work is fun. 'Course I also do game testing in my spare time,' he nodded his head toward the game in Nick's hand, 'so I can guarantee that's a good game. One the best actually. I know one of the programmers, he's real smooth. Took over five years to create.' They chatted a little more but soon had to check out and leave if they were going to make their schedule. A quick stop at the candy store to get a present for Brass and then the were home to wrap gifts. It was fortunate that they had gotten out of the mall ahead of Nick's schedule because they had just finished wrapping the gifts when they were both beeped to a crime scene.   
  
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They arrived later then everyone else as Nick's place was the farthest away. They walked in all business so Nick was pretty surprised to be running into Gil's back. "Wha?" He stepped around him to stare in shock, the rest of the CSI's noticed.  
  
"Grissom? Nick? What's going on?"  
  
Nick was the first to speak, "Jane Doe we know her." It was the purple and pink haired girl from the food court.  
  
  
Sorry if it was too much. I can't wait for responses! C'mon, you know you want to play. Oh and Merry Christmas! 


	2. Brackish Times 2

Brackish Times part 2

Summary: Gil and Nick continue to hunt for a killer

Warnings: SLASH!!!!

Rating: PG-13

Archive: 

Series: Rivers of Life

Summery of last part: Nick and Gil shopped for Christmas presents and were called to crime scene. Where they found out they knew the victim. 

Brass turned surprised, you both know her?

Nick continued to stare at the body in shock, yeah we were Christmas shopping and ran into her at the food court in the mall. She was nice we talked while we waited in line.

Any idea why someone would want to kill her? Do you have a name? There wasn't any id on her.

Well not in the traditional sense.

What do you mean?

We were signing, so we just used sign names, I can tell you that her first name probably starts with an h.

So she's deaf?

Grissom started to nod yes but Nick cut him off, 

Grissom turned to Nick, why do you think she can hear?

She was using Signing Exact English, you're used to it so you assumed she's deaf but she's young enough where she would have been trained in American Sign Language if she was deaf. She probably learned for the same reason you did and learned for people that weren't always deaf. She certainly didn't sign like a deaf person.

Grissom shook his head, well you know more about the deaf community than me. We could ask around at that church she mentioned. I know it's a church but I didn't recognize the denomination.

Oh it's uhhh, Nick closed his eyes struggling to remember, it's a Church of Christ, but the CV would the name of that particular church, maybe Campus View? Probably near the University. She said that they had a deaf ministry there. They might recognize her and know her real name.

Since there was nothing that could be done about the church until morning the group broke and started processing the scene. Nick took photos with Sara on finger prints, Grissom examined the body with Catherine and Warrick wrapping up the miscellaneous. Unfortunately there wasn't much evidence of anything. The only thing they might have to go on was the bullet buried in the girl's body.

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Catherine walked into the morgue and stood over the girl's body, so Al what can you tell me?

Well there wasn't any sign of physical deafness and cause of death was bullet to the heart. She died instantly. I pulled the bullet and sent it to trace. But it looked like a .38 to me. There weren't any signs of powder burn or residue. Unless you luck out with the bullet I can't tell you anything.

Catherine sighed, that's what I was afraid of, thanks Al.

Catherine was eating food in the lounge when Nick and Gil walked in signing excitedly to each other. Their hands were waving back an forth moving fast, too fast for Catherine to follow at all. So you found something?

Nick and Gil turned as one toward her, but Nick spoke, yeah we did. Her name was Heather Valentie. She was a professor at the university. Her research involved plant genetics and recombination. Apparently she was getting some death threats.

Gil picked up after Nick, excited at the prospect of a lead. Apparently she was well known in certain circles, not only for her research into genetic manipulation but also for her very liberal ideas, there was a big upheaval on campus when she started dating another woman, there was apparently some homophobes who wanted her fired.

Nick cut back in, apparently she's been getting death threats for months from liberal factions against her sexuality and her research. We also got her address, we're just here to pick up Warrick and check out her place, hopefully she'll have saved her notes. Then we're gonna head on over to her office at the University and talk to some of her co-workers.

Sounds like a plan. The disappointment of having to hang around and cool her heels was evident in the slight whine of Catherine's voice.

Being with Nick had made Grissom relate better to people and this had never been more evident than when he picked up on Catherine's mood. Even just two months ago he might not have noticed. Cath, even if we get prints off the threats, there's the distinct possibility that more then one person sent them, the bullet might help us narrow down the suspects considerably. 

Catherine mollified not by Grissom's speech but by the fact that he noticed Catherine smiled slightly, there is no small evidence only small over time?

Grissom smiled in appreciation, 

Butterfly in Maranao (Philipines) is paroparo.


End file.
